I have to agree with others in that I really didn't see this one happening. But I can see why this might be helpful for Marriott. Marriott can use this to get a leg up over their biggest rivals. And I guess Starwood really needed someone to come in and take over, so it looks like Marriott will be it.

Personally, I wouldn't give myself an ulcer trying to figure out what the ramifications will be for the 2 programs yet. There are a lot of other, more important, hurdles the 2 companies will be dealing with first. Maybe in a year or so, assuming this keeps moving forward, we might be able to get a little more ideas on how the programs will be integrated.